(Berlin) German authorities will open an investigation to determine how winners of the Berlin film festival could have made “unacceptable” comments against Israel in the context of its war against Hamas, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Film Festival said on Monday. government.
Since Sunday, the Berlinale has been accused of spreading anti-Semitism after attacks by directors against Israel, who denounced in particular a “genocide” in the Gaza Strip where Israeli shelling left nearly 30,000 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Among them, Palestinian documentary maker Basel Adra, who won an award for a film on the expulsions of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, accused Israel of “massacre” the Palestinian population, to applause from the audience.
However, they failed to mention that the Israeli offensive was triggered by an unprecedented attack carried out in Israel on October 7 by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, again mostly civilians.
“It is unacceptable that the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7 was not mentioned,” government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said at a regular news conference on Monday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes “that such a unilateral position cannot be tolerated, and that in any debate on this subject, it is important to keep in mind the event which triggered this new escalation of the conflict in the Middle East “, she insisted.
Green Culture Minister Claudia Roth announced on Monday that she would look into “the incidents that occurred” during the ceremony, in collaboration with the conservative mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner, both sharing responsibility for the Berlinale.
Asked about a possible questioning of the public funding of several millions for the festival, Mme Hoffmann responded that the current goal was to ensure that such events do not happen again.
Germany, traumatized by the horrors of the Holocaust when the Nazis massacred 6 million Jews, was one of the main supporters of Israel and its right to self-defense following the October 7 attacks.
The Berlinale declared on Sunday that the winners’ remarks were “independent and individual opinions” which in no way reflected the position of the festival, adding “understand the indignation” aroused by the remarks “felt to be too biased” made during the Awards.